There are numerous brands of LCD TV in the market such as Samsung, Sony, Panasonic, LG and many more, which makes it very difficult for you to choose one for yourself. Certain aspects of the purchase should be considered before you enter the shop. These include the price of the TV, the purpose and area required to accommodate a TV in the house. Some features which you wish to have in the LCD TV should also be jotted down.

The first one of those is the size of the screen you want. The size of the screen should be decided keeping in mind the area of the room where it is to be kept and the point of accessibility of the TV. The distance between the screen and the couch or chair where it will be viewed from will play an important role here. A 32-37inch LCD TV should be viewed from a distance of 6 to 8 ft. On similar lines, a TV with 20-27 inch screen size should be viewed from 2 to 5 ft. Aside from the space of the room itself, you may also have a personal preference. Some of us prefer larger screens whilst others are more comfortable with smaller screens. If you are looking to buy a large LCD TV, also bear in mind the space of your room to ensure that you room can accommodate for the size.

Resolution is the next aspect you need to look at. It represents the quality of the picture you are viewing on the television. If you have a high resolution LCD TV, then you can be sure that the picture quality is good. Simplest of LCD TVs have a resolution of 1280×720. There are other televisions with bigger screens which have a resolution of 1920×1080, but these are rated much higher in price too!

The next significant thing to consider is your budget vis-à-vis the price. It depends a lot on the size of the LCD TV and the features it incorporates. A bigger LCD TV with extra features means a high price. The cheapest one will be available at $500 and the most expensive one will be worth $10,000. Sometimes the prices are dependent on the brand you opt for. If you opt for one from Bravia series from Sony, you will have to shell out a lot of money depending on the features. Similarly, the Scarlet series from LG costs relatively higher than the other brands.

Luckily, there is a lot of choice available today when it comes to LCD TVs. This means that the intense competition has resulted in great prices over the last few years. Make the most of this choice, whatever your budget is. Also bear in mind that you are looking to get an LCD TV on a special offer or at a discounted price. This will allow you to get more for your money than if you are getting the TV at full price. No matter how attractive the offer looks, always do your research and ensure the TV is worth the price and fulfills your specific requirements.

Other things to consider are connectors, motion, contrast-ratio and other such features. This will help make a better choice which perfectly suits your requirements. Remember the power is in your hands so whether you are shopping online or on the high street ask questions and compare prices and specifications. This is the only way to really ensure you are getting a good LCD TV at a good price.

Are your family’s home video tapes piled haphazardly in a box or stored away in an attic or basement? If so, you run the risk of losing the video on them forever!

Tapes are sturdy, but they are made of plastic and glue, materials that degrade over time. They are also prone to damage by common household irritants, such as dust and hair. Caring for your videotapes correctly is the key to a long lifespan.

ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS

The temperature of the location in which your video tapes are stored plays the most important role in their longevity. Humidity and heat are tapes’ two greatest enemies, and should be avoided at all costs.

The reason is this: over time, normal atmospheric humidity seeps into a tape’s binder glue, causing it to expand and contract. This unavoidable occurrence is the main reason why tapes degrade. But when a video tape is stored in an environment that is particularly humid, this process accelerates. In addition, excessive heat can warp the plastic tape or distort the cassette’s shell.

Therefore, a cool and dry storage location is best. Experts recommend an ideal range of 60-65 degrees Fahrenheit. Lower floors are better since they are generally cooler, but avoid basements and cellars, which have higher humidity levels. For the same reason, stay away from any rooms that experience steam, such as bathrooms or laundry rooms. And avoid attics, due to their tendency to trap heat.

If tapes have been stored in a location that is hotter or colder than the normal environment, let them acclimate before playing them. Even slight humidity changes can cause a magnetic tape to expand and contract, which changes the tape’s physical dimensions. If you play a videotape that is affected by humidity, the altered dimensions can clog VCR playback heads and jam tapes.

MAGNETIC FIELDS

Next to environmental conditions, the second most dangerous threat to video tapes is magnetism. This is because the audio-visual information on a tape is comprised of magnetic particles. These magnetic particles are susceptible to data loss, which can be caused by anything from static shock to normal electrical fields.

Electrical fields can be found everywhere, including near TVs and home stereo components, but can also be located around a device with a large motor, such as vacuum cleaners and refrigerators. Thus, avoiding storing tapes near electric equipment. Use a cabinet or, preferably, a room separate from your entertainment center.

VIDEO TAPE PACKAGING

Video tapes should always be stored in their cases, which prevent airborne dust from entering a tape cassette. VCRs are very sensitive to dust and other small particles. If a speck of dirt slips underneath a cassette’s flip door, it can be picked up by the VCR’s heads during playback and can clog the deck. Foreign debris can also increase the number of magnetic particles that are rubbed off a tape when it is played, as well as dissipate a tape’s electromagnetic charges.

In addition, store tapes in an upright position, like a book on a shelf. Storing tapes flat stresses the edge of the video tape, which can eventually result in tracking errors. And never stack tapes on top of each other, since pressure can cause the plastic cassette shell to warp.

PLAYBACK ISSUES

Every year, the magnetic particles that comprise a tape’s audio and video wear off naturally, simply from normal decay. However, this degradation is accelerated every time a tape is played, since video heads rub off data when they pass over a tape’s surface as well.

Therefore, limit how often you watch important tapes. The best solution is to convert video to DVD, which enables you to safely watch the video while preserving the original tape. However, always, always, ALWAYS keep your original copies after you transfer tape to DVD! Never get rid of master video tapes because they will always contain the highest-quality version of your footage.

TAPE EXERCISE

While you should limit playback, tapes can benefit from other forms of VCR exercise. Insert each of your tapes into a VCR every few years and fully fast-forward and rewind it. Exercising a videotape in this way repacks the mylar tape and relieves any accumulated stresses caused by uneven moisture absorption from normal humidity. When re-tensioning isn’t done, the tape can become stretched or warped.

Along the same lines, always rewind a tape to the beginning before putting it away. When a tape is kept rewound, the majority of the physical tape is protected because it is wrapped inside the outer layers.

Finally, maintain your VCR or camcorder, because dirty video heads are abrasive to tapes. Use a head cleaning tape to eliminate dirt on your own, and have the unit professionally cleaned at least once a year. When not in use, cover VCRs and store camcorders in camera bags to lock out dust.

All videotapes break down over time. But with proper care, you can ensure that your tapes last a lifetime–and maybe even beyond.

The Nintendo Wii is manufactured by the Foxconn Company and developed under the close supervision of Nintendo. It is important to state that this excellent game console has sold fantastically well since it was first released. It’s global sales have exceed 70 million units. This in itself proves how good the Nintendo Wii is – there is a reason why people are still buying this product. It also shows how Nintendo have found a market within the game console industry and dominated it with the Nintendo Wii.

Unlike Xbox and PlayStation, with Nintendo Wii, simple is good. Where Xbox and PlayStation have gone overboard with more graphical capabilities in the consoles, Nintendo Wii provides a system that is easier to handle. Wii also uses a device which resembles a normal TV remote rather than a gamepad, which is very different from Xbox and PlayStation that use conventional controls such as directional pads and controls sticks.

The console possesses all the features required to connect to an HDTV including a cradle to vertically mount the console, the sensor bar as well as the usual set of composite AV cables. However, these cables do not support the higher available resolution of 480p, thus forcing you to buy a separate set of component cables.

The size of the console is probably the smallest in the family as well as compared to other console machines. With just about 8.5 inches deep, 6.25 inches in width and 1.75 inches in height (when placed horizontally), it is quite inconspicuous. The initial batch has come in just one color, but other colors can be expected in the coming months.

The console comes with an internal memory of 512 MB along with Virtual Console titles. Well, that memory will obviously not last forever, and you can increase it through the Secure Digital card slot provided in the console. SD cards being cheap it’s a great feature incorporated by Wii compared to the proprietary cards used by older systems.

Navigation through Wii can be done through the Wii Channels. The default channels include news, weather forecast, message and photo channel. The Home page is the default gateway and allows you to access disc-based GameCube and Wii games as well as Virtual Console Titles. The best part of the system however is the motion sensing capability allowing you to play Wii-games.

As good as the Wii is, it cannot compare with its competitors in some departments. For example, the resolution of 480p is lower than the 1080p of the PS3 and the 1080i of the Xbox 360. The CPU of the Wii is also lower than its competitors. If you are looking for the most realistic gaming available, then the Wii is probably not what you are after. The Nintendo Wii is all about fun. It is an alternative to the bulky PS3 and Xbox.

With fun in mind, there are some fantastic fun games available on this system. It is primarily directed at the younger generation, however it is mean to be fun for the whole family. With it’s excellent multiplayer credentials the Wii can be enjoyed by both adults and kids alike. Considering all these features, Wii is worth a buy if you are looking for a cool multimedia system which can do just about anything and most importantly is enjoyable.

There’s a lot of camcorders available these days, all of them promise you lots of things and yet very few of them actually live up to their promises.

Why purchase a Sony HDR0CX150 camcorder? The answer is simple. It’s the best camcorder on the market today that offers you the most versatility, features and benefits for your money. It truly is an affordable camcorder that’s designed for people who live active lifestyles compared to the camcorders from just a few years ago.

This camcorder only weighs 2.2 pounds and can be easily fit into a purse or coat pocket. It features a 16GB embedded flash memory to ensure that you can record lots of movies, Full HD Recording w/3MP still image, 30mm CZ Vario Sonnar T* with 25x Optical zoom to catch all of the details and 1080/60p playback so you can relive those moments at home on your TV.

Here are some important points to remember:
* It has a 2 hour battery life (with stock FP50 battery) and since the battery is external you can purchase a bigger batter for it.
* If you purchase an additional 8 gig memory card for this camcorder you will have the ability to record at least 7 hours of video at a time.
* Simple enough for anyone to use it because it doesn’t have many external buttons or controls so someone won’t change the settings by accident.

Where can you find the best deals on the HDR-CX150?

There are a lot of stores that sell this camcorder online. Some of them are offering great deals, discounts and bundles. Some are also offering free shipping and if you need to return the camcorder for any reason return shipping is free too.

“Singing could be an ocean and amateurs can dive in it!”

This was shown by the karaoke systems some 50 years ago. A decade back, we amateurs witnessed an amazing instrument which could help us in bringing out singing talent and made our singing sound really “classy”. This instrument was none other than our own “Magic sing”. Since then it provided a more competitive platform for all the hobbyist singers.

History

It is nothing but a portable karaoke microphone. Entertech is one of the most prominent companies that ventured into conceptualizing and manufacturing it. The first edition was a black instrument with 800 in-built songs. It introduced in the year 2000. The first completely wireless magic sing came into view in 2006, which was named ED-11000. The latest of its kind is ET21KV and ET-21000V that come with LCD monitor, two wireless microphones with seven games, six song-chip slots, voice assistant, thematic background, SD video playback, and many other features.

Recognition

Since the time of its inception, it has magically and increasingly marveled the audience and buyers. Not only this, it has great recognition in market and also managed to attain consumer awards as well, ranging from Han Kyoung Consumer’s Award and 10 million dollars export award, to venture company award, Korean ministry award, and Premium innovation enterprise award for technology. It is portable, customizable, and may be that is why considered suitable for any skill level. The end-user ease of operation is a major attractive feature of magic sing, since it requires no CD or DVD installations to sing along your favourite tunes. Just connect to your TV SET that is what it requires.

It can display your own customized background with its external video output that connects to the CD/DVD player. The song performances that you have recorded can be uploaded to your computer using the common USB pen-drive.

Television size is an important factor in home theater room arrangement and the viewer’s experience. You’ll want to make sure you get a television that is the right size, and base your size requirements on a number of factors, not all of which you may be aware. Here are some things to take into consideration when looking for a TV with the right screen size and generally planning your home theater room:

Distance from the Television

You should get a general idea of how far you intend to sit from the television screen. This will be determined both by the room size and by your personal preferences. Generally speaking, the smaller the screen size the closer you will have to sit. This makes larger screens preferable in a general sense. Sitting very close to a TV screen is seldom the preferable option. In any case, people usually enjoy larger screens because they provide more of an absorbing and easy to view visual experience.

There are some basic ratios that you should be aware of regarding screen size and viewing distance. For instance, for a 22 inch LCD TV, you would want to sit in a range of perhaps 3 to 5 feet. For a 26 inch screen it would be slightly higher: 3.25 – 5.5 feet. One can see how this is a little on the close side. Moving up to a 32 inch screen size, say for a 32 inch LCD TV or ordinary analog set, the appropriate viewing distance would be around 4 to 6.5 feet. That’s better but it’s still a bit close. For a 50 inch plasma TV (or other type) optimal viewing would occur between 6.25 and 10.25 feet. Thus if you have a room that could accommodate that kind of distance comfortably, a 50 inch TV would be a good size to go with. The general rule of thumb is to go with the largest size that your room can accommodate and that you can afford.

Quality of the Picture

A balance should be struck between the picture quality of your TV and the screen size. The type of TV and programming factors in here as well. HDTV can be viewed from closer up without a loss of detail than an analog set. So if you are dealing with an HDTV you can plan on a sitting a bit closer (closer to the bottom of the ranges given above) without loss of picture quality. This also depends, of course, on the type of programming you’ll be watching – DVDs and high definition programming will bring out the best qualities of HDTV, while ordinary programming will be lower quality, and you may want to sit further away to make the lower resolution less noticeable. Finally, if you’ve got an analog TV set, sitting further away is always recommended.

Room Light

Room light if well placed can actually enhance picture quality. But too much ambient light can lead to screen glare and loss of color definition. The basic idea here is to place the TV and set up the room lighting so that light is minimized but not completely eliminated. Widows should have blinds on them, lighting should be moderate, and the TV should be placed in an area that is not directly opposite doors or windows that let in a lot of sunlight. If a room does have a lot of unavoidable ambient light, an LCD TV will hold its own as best as far as picture quality goes, so you may want to think in terms of purchasing one. It’s best to have at least some light in the room when viewing, for instance on the wall behind the TV. Watching television in total darkness can be tiring and a strain on your eyes.

A well selected TV set and a properly arranged home theater room will greatly enhance your viewing pleasure and satisfaction. Take a little time to plan your TV room out carefully and you will find it an enjoyable and safe place to learn and be entertained.

With the advances in technology it is becoming more and more possible to setup a wireless home cinema system in your home without having to run lots of cables around and start chasing into walls and ruining your decoration.

At the time of writing the technology in our opinion is not quite good enough for wireless video but wireless audio is definitely a viable solution if you are not going to look at too much of a high end system.

Wireless Home Cinema Video

The reason wireless video is not viable at present is mainly due to the bandwidth required and given the detail of the formats are increasing as well it makes it hard for technology to keep up. High definition content holds a lot of information and to transmit that real time in just not practical.

You can currently get some wireless projectors and these can either work as real time devices or as an upload and play style. The upload type store wireless uploaded content and then play it from their internal storage. Real time devices literally play the content as it is being transmitted. There is usually a small delay between the transmission from source to projector and this means that it’s only really practical to use this type of transmission for static images such as power point presentations; it is currently not able to deliver motion with any degree of quality.

It is slowly becoming more possible on lower resolution screens and close proximity of transmitter to receiver. How long it will be before we see full high definition home cinema projectors I’m not sure but it’s on the horizon.

Wireless Home Cinema Audio

Wireless audio is becoming quite common nowadays especially in town apartments where it may not be practical to run cables around. You will find that there is the possibility for both wireless source material to be transmitted as well as wireless audio signals to be sent to speakers.

In general audio signals carry a lot less information than video and so this means the bandwidth limitations are not so much of an issue as with video.

Afterthoughts

So how long is it going to be before we start seeing full dedicated wireless home cinema systems?

Well I still think it will be a while for dedicated home cinema systems if we even see them at all. The reason for this is because with a dedicated home cinema you are naturally going to build the room as well and so you can always plan to run the cables that you need which will always have a better transmission path than from wireless.

Get ready for take off with an airplane theme party. Your toddlers will enjoy high-flying fun in first class style, as you taxi down the runway, celebrating one more year of life of your little pilot!

INVITATION IDEA FOR AIRPLANE THEME PARTY

Build excitement and anticipation with a fun boarding pass invite. Make your passes out of card stock and print a picture of an airplane on the front, add an airplane sticker, or a photo of your child. Here’s some suggested wording for your invite:

CHARLES (NAME OF CHILD) AIRLINES – Official Birthday Party Airlines

FIRST CLASS Party Boarding Pass

Carrier: Andrew AirlinesFlight: 082507 (Date of Birth)Date: (Party Date)Gate: 3YRS (Age of Child)Destination: (Location of Party)Arrival/Departure: 12:00 – 2:00 p.m.

Confirm arrival with Charles Airlines ticket agent at (Phone Number)

DECORATION IDEAS FOR AIRPLANE THEME PARTY

Create a landing strip in your driveway with chalk. Use outdoor lights to define the strip.

Create a ticket booth at your front door area using a card table or any other small table with a colorful table skirt. Hang a sign off the table that says “Ticket Booth”.

Hang a sign on the outside of the front door that says “ARRIVAL” and a sign on the inside of the front door that says “DEPARTURE”.

Hang a “BAGGAGE CLAIM” sign over the party favor table.

Turn your dining room table into a landing strip by covering it with gray or black butcher paper. Lay two strands of white Christmas lights down the center leaving space between the strands for airplanes.

Hang inflatable planes, extra-large paper airplanes, balsam wood airplanes, etc. from your ceiling.

Hang large maps of the world, posters of airplanes, jets, helicopters, or pilots on the walls.

PARTY FOOD IDEAS FOR AIRPLANE THEME PARTY

Create airplane seating by lining up chairs in rows and serve your little guests from a trolley. Give them each a plastic tray to place on TV trays.

Stock your trolly with packages of fruit snacks, nuts, goldfish, teddy grahams, etc. for snacks.

Little cartons of milk or juice would be perfect for drinks.

Use an airplane cookie cutter to cut little peanut butter and jelly sandwiches into the shape of airplanes for your guests.

Macaroni and cheese is always a favorite with kids.

Individually packed applesauce is a perfect airplane food.

PARTY GAMES & ACTIVITIES

To magnify your theme, create various airplane stations, each offering one activity for the little ones to complete.

Pin The Tail On The Airplane – Hang a large poster of an airplane on a wall. Make airplane tails out of construction or colored paper, or card stock. Blindfold a guest, spin around, and have them each try to tape their airplane tail as close to the actual poster’s tail as possible. Game continues until everyone has had a turn. Whoever gets their tail the closest is the winner.

Paper Airplane Contest – Either make the paper airplanes ahead of time or have helpers available to assist your little pilots in folding their planes. Put everyone’s name on their planes. Once the planes are ready to fly the friendly skies, have everyone line up, aim, and fly. You can have various contests and judge for things like the highest/lowest flying plane, best crash, shortest/longest flight, slowest/fastest, etc.

PARTY CAKE IDEAS FOR AN AIRPLANE THEME PARTY

Make or buy a sheet cake and frost it light blue. Place an airplane in the center of the cake. Add a happy birthday message and cotton candy puffs to create the clouds. Accent edges of the cake with bright blue, red, or yellow dollops of frosting.

Make it easy on yourself and opt for cupcakes frosted light blue with a toy airplane in the center, which will also serve as a party favor. Give the birthday pilot a small smash cake decorated as noted above.

Back in January, singer David Bowie turned 60. In order to celebrate his 60th birthday, tBBC News found 60 little know facts about the singer. Straight from UK’s daily paper, here are those facts.

1. David Bowie was born David Robert Jones in Brixton, London, on 8 Jan 1947. He shares the same birthday as Elvis.

2. Bowie’s family moved to Bromley when he was six years old.

3. He went to Bromley Technical High School, now called Ravenswood School.

4. Rock guitarist Peter Frampton was Bowie’s friend at school – his dad was head of the art department. He’s gone on to play guitar with Bowie many times during his career.

5. His right pupil is permanently dilated – due to his friend George Underwood punching him in the eye while the pair were still at school. The fight was over a girl.

6. Underwood and Bowie remained good friends with Underwood doing artwork for some of Bowie’s earlier albums.

7. He started playing the saxophone when he was 12 years old.

PRE-FAME

8. His first ever release was Liza Jane / Louie Louie Go Home in June 1964, under the name of Davie Jones with The King-Bees.

9. He later changed his name to Bowie to avoid confusion with Monkee Davy Jones.

10. Bowie is pronounced to rhyme with Joey.

11. At the age of 17, he was interviewed on a BBC programme as the founder of The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Long-haired Men. He complained: “It’s not nice when people call you darling and that”.

12. Around 1967, he wrote songs for actor Paul Nicholas of Just Good Friends fame, who was then recording under the name Oscar.

13. He released his debut album, the self-titled David Bowie, in 1967 after playing in a host of pub and club bands.

14. 1967 also saw the release of a single, The Laughing Gnome, which many fans argue is the worst song he has ever recorded.

15. When Bowie suggested that his fans should vote via phone which tracks he should play for his 1990 world tour, The Laughing Gnome was the most requested. He didn’t play it.

STARMAN

16. Bowie’s first hit in the UK – 1969’s Space Oddity – was used by the BBC in its coverage of the moon landing.

17. The fictional character of Major Tom has appeared in three Bowie hits – Space Oddity (1969), Ashes To Ashes (1980) and Hallo Spaceboy (1996).

18. Bowie’s first US Number One was his single Fame in 1975. It was co-written by John Lennon and features the late former Beatle on backing vocals.

19. Model Twiggy features on the cover with him for his 1973 album Pin Ups.

20. Around the time of Bowie’s 1975 Young Americans album, Chic founder Nile Rodgers auditioned to play guitar in Bowie’s band. He didn’t get the part.

21. But Rodgers later produced the biggest-selling album of Bowie’s career, 1983’s Let’s Dance.

22. Bowie is believed to have sold in the region of 140 million albums over his career.

23. He was voted Number Four in the recent BBC Culture Show public vote to discover Britain’s Greatest Living Icons. Above him were Sir David Attenborough at Number One, Morrissey (2) and Sir Paul McCartney (3).

THE PERFORMER

24. Bowie was hit in the eye by a lollipop while on stage in Oslo, Norway in 2004.

25. Toni Basil of Oh Mickey fame worked as Bowie’s choreographer on his Diamond Dogs tour in 1974. She later worked on his Glass Spider tour of 1987.

26. In 1970, when Bowie briefly formed The Hype, everyone in the band dressed up as super heroes. They were booed off everywhere they played.

27. Director Nicolas Roeg cast Bowie in his first leading role, as a stranded alien in The Man Who Fell to Earth, in 1976.

28. He is to be the voice of a character in an episode of SpongeBob SquarePants this year.

29. In the 1986 Jim Henson movie Labyrinth, Bowie plays Jareth The Goblin King.

30. He has most recently appeared in The Prestige, alongside Hugh Jackman and Scarlet Johansson.

31. In 1969, Bowie formed his own mime troupe, Feathers, as well as an experimental art ensemble.

32. Bowie appeared as Pontius Pilate in Martin Scorsese’s The Last Temptation of Christ.

33. Among his oddest film roles are: The Shark in Yellowbeard and a sinister FBI agent called Philip Jeffries in David Lynch’s Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me.

PERSONAL LIFE

34. David is 5 feet and 10 inches (178cm) tall, according to most sources.

35. Bowie declined the CBE in 2000 and a knighthood in 2003.

36. Bowie married Somalian supermodel Iman in 1992. They have a daughter Alexandria Zahra Jones, born in 2000.

37. Iman has a Bowie knife tattooed on her ankle in tribute to her husband.

38. Bowie’s schizophrenic half-brother Terry killed himself in 1985.

39. Nine years older than David, Terry was the inspiration for songs including Aladdin Sane, All The Madmen, The Bewlay Brothers and Jump They Say.

40. In 2004, Bowie underwent emergency heart surgery in Germany to treat a blocked artery.

THE MUSICIAN

41. Bowie co-produced some of the best tracks on Lou Reed’s legendary album Transformer.

42. His hit Ziggy Stardust is about Vince Taylor, who wrote Brand New Cadillac – later covered by The Clash.

43. David recorded a version of Space Oddity in Italian titled Ragazzo Solo, Ragazza Solo – which literally means Lonely Boy, Lonely Girl.

44. The Lodger album’s Move On track is a backwards rewrite of his All The Young Dudes.

45. He has been in 10 bands – The Konrads, The Hooker Brothers, The King Bees, The Manish Boys, The Lower Third, The Buzz, The Riot Squad, The Hype, Tin Machine and Tao Jones Index. (Some of these have performed under other names).

46. Bowie’s song The Man Who Sold The World has been covered by Lulu and Nirvana.

47. Bing Crosby recorded his last ever single with David Bowie. Their duet version of The Little Drummer Boy was recorded for Christmas 1977. It was a hit five years later.

48. Bowie wrote the soundtrack for the 1993 dramatisation of Hanish Kureishi’s novel Buddha Of Suburbia.

49. Bowie plays sax on To Know Him Is To Love Him from Steeleye Span’s Now We Are Six album.

50. He plays just about every instrument on Diamond Dogs – including the famous guitar riff on Rebel Rebel.

MISCELLANEOUS

51. He was the final guest on Marc Bolan’s ITV music show, Marc, in 1977. Bolan was killed in a car crash in south west London shortly afterwards.

52. Steve Strange, recently of BBC’s Celebrity Scissorhands, was in the video for Bowie’s 1980 Number One hit Ashes To Ashes.

53. Bowie’s favourite current bands include Arcade Fire and TV On The Radio.

54. Mary Hopkin of Those Were The Days fame sings the “doo doo doo” backing vocals on Sound And Vision.

55. Almost a decade before The Cocteau Twins popularised the approach, Bowie sang in a completely self-invented language on the 1976 Low album track, Subterraneans.

56. His image appears on every single one of his album covers – except the UK release of The Buddha Of Suburbia.

57. He is mentioned in Kraftwerk’s song Trans Europe Express (”Meet Iggy Pop and David Bowie – TRANS EUROPE EXPRESS!”) and Backside by the Strawbs (”The boy stood on the burning deck, his back against the mast. He did not dare to turn around till David Bowie passed”).

58. In 1997 David Bowie broke new ground, yet again, with the internet-only release of his single Telling Lies. A year later, he launched his own internet service provider, Bowienet.

59. Bowie draws, paints, sculpts and writes in his spare time. His favourite artists are Tintoretto, John Bellany, Erich Heckel, Picasso and Michael Ray Charles.

60. David got just one O Level, in art.

Halloween trivia questions can spice up any pub quiz, because by their very nature they tend to be different to the normal type of trivia you come across during the average pub quizzes. However, it is at Halloween and the days leading up to it that such questions tend to appear in a pub quiz, and many bars, pubs and even charities and other bodies tend to run themed quizzes at this time.

It is the same with other notable dates in the calendar, such as St. Valentine’s Day, Christmas, New Year Day and, in the USA, Thanksgiving. There is something about a trivia quiz that attracts people at these times that would never otherwise be involved in a quiz.

Why is this? Why is it that many people will gladly participate in an activity on a special date that they would never dream of doing at any other time of the year? I am not referring here to those avid quizzers that attend a quiz every Thursday or Sunday evening, but to those for whom an annual pub quiz is an event.

One reason is generally that it is fun. A well compiled Halloween quiz can be a great deal of fun, as can any other themed quiz, and many people feel safe with such quizzes rather than just a general knowledge quiz with questions that they are afraid will show their ignorance to others competing. In fact, some will read up on Halloween trivia questions to improve their chances!

Another reason is that most people like their knowledge tested: hence the popularity of trivia quizzes on TV and why so many pubs in the USA, and particularly in the UK, run a quiz on a regular basis. They don’t generally need an excuse for a quiz, but come Valentine’s Day, Christmas, Thanksgiving or Halloween, they have the ideal excuse for a themed quiz – after all, it is only once a year.

So where do you find them? It depends on whether you mean find the quiz venues or the Halloween trivia questions with which to run the quiz. Pub quizzes are normally advertised in the pub itself, and many will have posters outside on the night. If it is a special occasion, then it may be advertised in the local press, but the news will certainly be passed around by word of mouth.

With respect to the Halloween trivia questions, you can make up your own, can get lots of free ones online or can purchase them. Why purchase quiz questions when they are free online? Simple – because you can be sure of the answers. Internet pub quiz questions are famous for wrong answers – on any topic. They share the same name for inaccuracy as those quiz machines that you find in pubs and bars.

I could give you many examples, but I don’t have the time. I do remember once being informed that the square root of 4 is 16! They obviously meant the square of 4, but that’s not what was asked. Others are well out of date, such as ‘last year’s .. . ‘ – that’s out of date after December 31st!

There are no doubts that at the appropriate time Halloween trivia questions can spice up a pub quiz, and that a Halloween quiz is very popular at that time of the year. Pubs use them to rake in money while also making cash for charity. They get the extra custom on the night, while they might charge an entry fee that goes to charity with prizes donated by local business.

It is a big thing in the UK, and growing around the world, particularly in the USA and Canada, and in countries such as Spain where the ex-pats run their own general knowledge quizzes.

However, of one thing there can be no doubts. Whether it is run by a church or school for funds, by local clubs to boost their income or by pubs to draw in customers, Halloween trivia questions can spice up a pub quiz, and a Halloween quiz is very popular due the fascination of most people with witches, wizards and things that go bump in the night!